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Michael Gray

- http://www.writegray.com

WoW Moviewatch: A Gnomish Winter Veil

I suppose I wasn't expecting a holiday video about Winter's Veil in the middle of spring, but who am I to turn down an original video? The dialogue in this video is exceedingly difficult to hear. Especially compared to all the other crisp, clear portions of soundtrack, making out what anyone is saying is extremely difficult. That's a shame, too, because the story is fairly obvious from video (a gnome is rebuked and chooses to save Christmas), and the animation promises some pretty good future work. The "suiting up" sequence is especially fun; you can't go wrong with Ozzy.

So, while A Gnomish Winter Veil could have used a little extra vocal work, it's all in all a good piece.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

WoW Moviewatch: Maureen

Maureen is clearly inspired by the song of same name, by Jim Newell. The video itself is about as straightforward as you can get. It's basically a human character riding around Azeroth while the song plays in the background.

I nearly didn't feature this video at all, except I can see where the creator was coming from. He was aiming for a moody, introspective piece. Adding a second character and some sense of story would have greatly enhanced the video. This machinima, as is, feels empty. There's not much content here. The animation itself is fine, as it's all just in game footage, but there's simply nothing for a viewer to watch. That sense of story is critical; the video itself has to stand under its own weight.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

WoW Moviewatch: Pointless Top 10: Lighthouses

Pointless Top 10: Lighthouses in World of Warcraft is the newest pointless list of things in WoW by Wowcrendor. Welcome to a silly list, where the points are made up and it doesn't matter anyway. Although, I suppose, if you're secretly a lighthouse-ophile, this might be a video custom-made for you.

Can you guess which lighthouse is number one? There's something unique about it, and it involves laser beams. I think we can all agree that if it comes down to laser beams, then the tower with one deserves to win.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

WRUP: Bloggers go radioactive

The video goes out to Sarah Pine. Read on to find out why.

The thing about WRUP is that I always want use it like "wrup, yo." Kind of like that old commercial with everyone saying "Wazzzzaaaaap." Just I want to be like, "Hey, team. WRUUUUUUUUUUUP." Does that make me old? I feel old.

What's not old: the Crusader. Still fun. At this point, what are your thoughts on playing a Crusader? And is it time for that sucker to make the leap over into WoW? I don't know what the Crusader would be in Hearthstone because I'm too busy blowing up murlocs. Like you do.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion

WoW Moviewatch: Waiting for Warlords

The Lazy Peon is back with one of the first new filk songs I've heard in a long time. (Not familiar with filk? It's folk music about fiction. I'd still be careful using the word on the streeth, though. Filk just sounds naughty.)

Waiting for Warlords probably won't show up on any pop music lists, but it's a nice way to kill a few minutes during a load screen. And while I hope everyone is actually pretty patient while waiting for the expansion, maybe this song will help soothe those who are feeling anxious.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

WoW Moviewatch: The Noobish Death Knight

I nearly didn't run The Noobish Death Knight because it was created by a brand new machinimator. Unfortunately, the novice-ness shows in the video. The voice acting is kind of rough, the story drags on, and the animation is crude. That being said, The Noobish Death Knight is clearly a labor of love.

Burkendah obviously worked to make the video as good as he could. It features jokes and an actual plot, which is a lot more than can be said for plenty of machinima. Frankly, I'm positive that if Burkendah keeps with it, we'll clearly see some outstanding videos from him. The potential shines clearly through the newb roughness, and I can't wait to see what comes.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

WoW Moviewatch: Walking Dead Parody

Chris created this video as a parody of Walking Dead, sticking mostly to shots that resemble the style of the show. It's an interesting attempt at homage, and I applaud the effort. The animation and visuals work fairly well, but the video is over pretty quickly. It needed much more narrative meat to effective satirize or even translate Walking Dead into WoW. While it might have been short since it was a first effort, I think the technical skills put on display are capable of a larger story. Besides, who doesn't love the occasional zombie?
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

WoW Moviewatch: Heroes of the Storm Developer Diary: Arthas

Creating a game presents no small task. Programming, design, dialogue, and game balance represent only small portions of the work. You also have to deal with licensing, actors, and egomaniacal undead rulers. That's probably why Ian Beckman released Heroes of the Storm Developer Diary: Arthas. With this video, we get an unedited look behind the curtain to see what it took to get Arthas into the arena.

I think the revelation about his role in Frozen is the most important. After all, of all the WoW characters, I think Arthas could fit the Disney heroic arc the best.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

WRUP: Hearthstone and Fanfic

Hearthstone
While BlizzCon tickets (and the challenges with them) is the topic of the day, let's stick to happier subjects. After all, things with Hearthstone continue to move along swimmingly, and who doesn't like enjoying a bit of creativity with a favorite game?

So we asked your intrepid WoW Insider staff: If your character were going to be a Hearthstone card... what would its stats be? It's not quite fanfic but more like fancards.

Don't forget to tell us what game you're playing this weekend. We'd like to know!

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion

WoW Moviewatch: Hearthstone: This Means War

That master of comedy, Ian Beckman, returns with a sarcastic take on everyone's favorite online card game. In Hearthstone: This Means War, we take a moment to contemplate exactly how fierce doing battle via collectible virtual cards really is. I mean, come on. It's just a card game, right?

This is the kind of video Beckman excels at. A few moments of metaphorical introspective humor and then a quick jab to the gut of our collective zeitgeist. Also, funny voices. What's not to love?
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch